Tag Archives: craft

Despite not being especially new to kid care, I’m still very new to the world of kid crafts and elementary education. I mean, I felt like a bona fide genius when I figured out that cutting paper counts as a craft. So imagine my excitement when my good friend Angela introduced me to the world of:

… painting with shaving cream. At least, that’s what I’m calling it.

Originally it started out as a gloriously messy way to practice forming letters, but apparently that’s really boring compared to drawing superhero logos and just generally splattering it everywhere. Either way, fun was had by all.

I’ve heard of some people adding food coloring to their shaving cream and playing with it in the bathtub with brushes as “proper” paint… haven’t gotten brave enough to try that one. Yet. But cleanup for this was pretty painless so I may yet give it a go…

What’s your favorite easy-set-up, easy-clean-up kid craft? I’m finding that both my kids are way into this stuff, so Pinterest and I are getting very well acquainted with one another – friendly suggestions/links always welcome!

Like this:

I’m one of those REALLY late arrivals to the “cute-ification” and Washi tape parties, but…

GUESS WHAT I JUST FOUND!?

It’s called Washi tape. I think it has something to do with Japan. And crafting. Doesn’t really matter… what DOES matter is that I’ve discovered it and been bitten by the Bug of Possibilities! Like these:

[Note: There’s a “Pin It” button at the bottom of the post… all of these images are completely pinnable! So pin away! *nudge nudge*]

As I was planning the day’s activities, I thought that I’d give doing a craft another go, and since my boy’s been really into scissors lately, making a nest seemed like the perfect idea. One Google search later, and I turned up this beauty from WeKnowStuff!

Fortunately, it’s not an exact science. If you end up with lots more water than glue [as I did] it still turns out fine, it just takes longer to dry.

Step 5 – Toss the paper strips in the glue mix. At first I tried stirring with a spoon, to keep my hands clean so I could continue to document the event, but… they didn’t get coated very well. So on a lark I tossed them around with my hand, and that worked much better. It also meant that I didn’t get very many pictures of the rest of the project, but… oh well 😛

Step 6 – Go to town on the plastic-covered bowls. [Frustratingly, both my kids are quite fastidious and wanted to wash their hands after each strip, so I ended up doing this part pretty much by myself. Oh well, still turned out pretty cool huh?]

Step 7 – Set it to the side for 12-24 hours to dry. When it’s completely dry, pop the bowl out and carefully peel away the plastic wrap. Ours were looking a little flimsy, so I gave the outside a hefty dose of Mod Podge in the interest of getting more play time out of them.

And voila!

Not too bad for a non-crafter, eh? And it’s way sturdier than it looks. It’s actually survived several straight days of play so far, so I’ve totally gotten my time [and my money]’s worth out of it!

Do you have a favorite kid craft that you do with your kids, or that you did when you were a kid and are just dying for an excuse to try again? I need ideas!

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